Between A -- And A --
by goingdownhillagain
Summary: Heero has dealt with Relena, now Duo deals with Hilde. Companion to To Assume Is To


This is the companion piece to _To Assume Is To…_ The story was in my head for a while. I figured Duo should get his share…and so should Hilde. Enjoy!

**Between a _ and a_**

By goingdownhillagain

The garage was air-conditioned. That in itself was amazing to someone like Hilde; or it would have been amazing if she wasn't trying to remain as still as death. She was lucky, in a way, that she found this little hidey-hole behind the garden tools. Hopefully, when enough time passed, she would be able to use one of the cars available to find her way to the shuttle bay and the…

_It doesn't matter anymore._

For a brief moment, Hilde wondered about Relena. The last time she saw the girl, she was running deeper into Quatre's mansion, trying the hide from the clusterfuck they had created. Not a brilliant move if one was a soldier, but then Heero in extreme no-holds-barred-you're-dead mode would shut down the working part of anyone's brain.

And Relena did not have a soldier's instinct.

The door that led from the house to the garage opened, the pressure seal releasing with a soft foosh. Hilde crouched still as slow but hesitant steps echoed over the concrete floor of the large room.

_Probably one of the estate staff. At least it's not-don't think about it._

As Hilde listened, the steps seemed to quicken then slow down; as if the owner was checking equipment and vehicles. Hilde surmised that at some point the unknown worker would open the doors of her little storage room and probably be confused about her presence. She could use that to get help to leave the property. The footsteps continued towards the shed, stopped then walked a bit to the left before ceasing completely. A shifting of metal and fabric indicated that the unknown person had sat down. Hilde felt concern, wondering if this was the old gardener was recovering from the fall he had last week.

Maybe it would be best-.

"Just so you know, there are cameras throughout the entire estate, Hilde. You may want to come out of the closet now."

_Oh shiiit!_

He was out there. He was waiting for her to come out. He was the reason why she was hiding.

He sounded so damn angry.

Hilde froze as Duo's voice faded into the cool air of the garage. In the darkened storage closet, a rake shifted, its teeth digging into the small of her back almost pushing her out of the haven she had made, into the artificially cold hell that was waiting for her on the other side of the plastic doors.

Duo breathed out in a huff.

_What do you expect? It's your stupid action that got him to this point. Now you don't have a chance in hell to-_

"Hilde, get the hell out of there or I will come after you. You are in so much trouble, woman."

Hilde stopped breathing.

The last person to call her 'woman' had a gun to her head and was forcing her into an airlock to blast her into space. She had heard 'woman' again, as she faded into unconsciousness when she was attacked by Vayeate and Mercurius. Both times, that word filled her with such anger that she subconsciously willed herself to fight back with sheer, brutal stubbornness.

Not even those two incidents filled her with the hot bubbling rage him saying that word did.

_How dare he…He dare say that…Like this is my fault…he is the one who started this…he was the one who was being the blasted coward!_

Hilde's teeth clenched as a growl crawled out of her throat. Her ears acknowledged when Duo got up from her perch and made his way to the doors of her hideaway. Her eyes saw the crack of light grow wider and wider as Duo opened the door. Her lungs took in an unsteady breath of air and his braid came into view…

Duo felt his body shoved backward as the storage closet door hit him in the face. Immediately after the breath left his lungs as a solid weight dug into his solar plexus. Yet his lack of oxygen could not cut of the fragrant aroma that was uniquely his quarry, and this fragrance spurred his body into action.

As Hilde pushed herself off Duo's chest, her body aiming for the door, Duo's left arm snapped up and wrapped around Hilde's leg, his hand on her calf, pulling her down to the concrete floor. Hilde didn't miss a beat; her other leg ramming her free booted heel into his shoulder. Duo seeing the direction of her foot at the last minute, rolled his body out of the way before pulling himself up Hilde to stop her from getting up

"Damnit Hilde! Will you stop a damn fuckin' minute? You bloody -!"

"Get off of me you bastard!"

"Hilde, stop fighting me! We need to TALK!"

"LIKE FUCKIN' HELL!"

Hilde twisted herself out of Duo's grasp. However, in her zeal to get away she didn't notice that their tumble put her head dangerously close to one of the exposed blades of one of many riding mowers being repaired. She didn't see it, but Duo did.

"Hilde, stop! You're going to -"

Hilde felt the vibration of the strike to her head, ring through her teeth. The pain that followed went straight down her neck as she collapsed onto her back. She could hear Duo swearing as her eyes began to water. She opened her mouth but nothing came out, then there was darkness.

(later)

Hilde thought she was in a hotel room when she returned to consciousness. Vague pastel yellow walls with warm orange, brown and cream curtains blocked out just enough warmth to allow the A/C unit to blow a cool wind into the room. The faux wooden furniture was just artistically ambivalent to look stylish but replaceable. The room was like any hotel room on L4, except for the garden growing lustfully beyond; the hues of bright red, blue, violent, orange and green shining brightly in the artificial sun of L4's usual dry climate. Hilde loved that garden, so much so that it provided her comfort when she was forced to recognize that Duo would never-

"So you've finally woken up."

A simple sentence, but the timbre of the voice still sent an instinctual jolt of fear and longing. Hilde cautiously opened her eyes as she tried to right her body of the couch. Duo, who was leaning against the marble counter dividing the kitchen from the living room, made no move to help her. Just as well; Hilde knew that she wasn't ready for any physical contact. There was still too much between them.

"How's the headache?"

Silence, then, "Fine. Was there blood?"

"A bit. No need for stitches, but you can't move for the rest of the day. Doctor's orders."

It was marvelous how averagely asinine this conversation. Her head wasn't their problem, but Duo discussed it as if it was detrimental to the continued security of the ESUN.

"Oh, by the way, your hands are handcuffed and everyone has been warned away from this part of the mansion. Just you and I and the walls."

"What do you want, Duo?"

The question slammed between then like the garage doors at the scrap yard they once own together on L2. That was a simpler time, not better, but at least Duo wasn't staring at her like if he wanted to blast her carcass into space.

"What do I want? That's what you're asking me. After everything that has happened. After what you and Pretty Princess did, YOU are asking me What Do I Want?"

"Yes! That's what I'm doing. And I'm waitin' for a fuckin' answer!"

"You stubborn bitch! You have no right to ask that! You and Twinkle Toes are the reason why Heero and I are in this damned mess!"

"Awww, how sad for you. Maybe next time you let everyone know what the fuck is going one between the two of you instead of Playing Fuckin' Guess Who WITH THE REST OF US!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN' ABOUT, YOU CRAZY SHREW!"

"THE FACT YOU CAN'T ADMIT TO A DAMN THING AND I'VE BEEN WASTING MY GOD DAMNED LIFE WAITING FOR YOUR IGNORANT ASS!"

"WHAT DA HELL DID I DO TO MAKE YOU HATE ME SO MUCH?"

Duo's roar shocked Hilde into stunned silence. They were standing nose to nose, their harsh breathing heating the air between them. Suddenly, Hilde felt tired. It was as if that one question took the fight right out of her. Did she hate Duo?

She didn't know anymore.

Duo watched as Hilde collapsed onto the couch, looking as defeated as he felt.

"What did I do to you to make you so angry at me? I thought we had something…small, almost there. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you? But then you and Relena pull this stunt."

"What stunt. It was bloody obvious that you and Heero share a specially relationship. The least you could do is to just admit it to everyone…"

"What! Admit what! There is no relationship between Heero and me. We are, have been and will be friends. You and Relena, of all people, should know how our experiences have affected us. I'm not just close with Heero; Quatre, Trowa, Wufei are all very close to me. And now the two of you pull this piece of compounded crap!"

Hilde stayed silent.

"We nearly lost our jobs. You should know that there are some who are just waiting for us to fuck up. The only reason this didn't end badly was because Dawson and Taylor had it coming. If it wasn't for their illustrious record of 'helpful' harassment, we would be the ones fired and stripped of our rank. We only got one month suspension."

"What I want to know is why you of all people would say something like that. Do you know how it felt to walk into work and hear you're in a hot and heavy relationship with your partner? I can't tell you how many dumbasses started harping about favoritism and protecting criminals. Only Une going psycho on them and reminding others that they are criminals also shut most of them up. Do you realize how much the two of you could have fucked up everything? Even Trowa and Quatre got scared especially since Quatre hasn't completely extracted himself from Preventer business. He and Trowa are already under stress with the Company Board. Damnit Hilde, they just started dating."

"I'm…sorry, that wasn't my intent-"

"And what about us?"

Hilde looked away.

"I always thought we had something between us. You were everything to me from the moment I met you. All through the war, one of the few things that kept me going was the knowledge that you would always accept me as I am. I thought you realized how important you were to me. I mean, you are the first person I actually spent more than one year with, willingly! I thought you realized how …vital… you were to me…I mean…you were my home…somewhere I got come to and be…safe…"

Hilde's face crumbled as Duo's voice faded off. She too thought there was something. She felt it from the moment she met him when she was in OZ. Now, as she stared at him, a trickle of doubt ran through her mind. Was she wrong…did she really mess up that badly…

"I didn't want to rush you. I figured if we took it slow you might be comfortable with me and that we could…well….I thought that when we moved here, and started to work with me, everything was fine. But these last three months you've…you've changed. At first I thought it was just you trying to get comfortable. But after that dinner party with Relena, you became a different person."

"What do you mean I-"

"I don't know what Relena has been telling you but she doesn't know shit about what I want!"

"But Relena wasn't the one-"

"I mean I thought that she got over her petty little hissy fit after Heero agreed to work for her but this…this was unforgivable-"

"But she is not the one-"

"What did she tell you to make you so vindictive that you would want to destroy my life? Why didn't you just say that you hated me-?"

"Oh SHUT UP!"

Duo jumped at the venom in Hilde's growl as she surged to a standing position.

"How dare you blame Relena for this? She has been my only friend through this entire situation!"

"Yeah, if a friend makes it her life mission to get between us-"

"AT LEAST SHE WANTED TO BE AROUND ME!"

"What do you mean?" Duo' voice dropped the tone so soft that for a second Hilde felt fear. Then she remembered why she was here.

"Do you know how many times we've spent with each other since we arrived Earth-side? Five! Five Frickin' Times! Yet every damn time there's a function, it you and Heero! Every Damn Time!"

"But-"

"You've never said anything to me! Not once! I've been waiting so long for something from you! And for your damn information Relena was the one who was trying to convince me that you cared for me! Even when it became obvious!"

"Wha-wha-what?"

"That last dinner, when you promised to dance with me…and I couldn't find you. We went looking and Dorothy said that…that she saw the both of you…by the fountain…Relena tried so hard…but the two of you were so close…WHAT DA HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO THINK?!"

Duo wasn't prepared for the punch Hilde threw at his face. Unfortunately, the cuffs on her wrists impeded the power of the blow. At most, the eventual blow scrapped his jaw but did little damage. It didn't faze Hilde. She kept throwing double fisted punches at anything she could reach; his face, his shoulders, his stomach. Each blow was filled with the anger, the disappointment, the betrayal that had begun to erode her the moment she had seen Duo and Heero together.

The moment when Dorothy's words finally registered in her broken heart.

Duo found himself being backed into the front door, trying desperately to stop Hilde's attack. Still from the shock on his face, Duo looked as if he got kicked in the nuts.

"Dorothy told you I was gay?"

"No…SHE SHOWED US!"

Duo was horror struck when Hilde collapsed on the floor, crying.

"I saw you hugging…hugging him like I wanted to be hugged…for so long… you seem to want to be around him…I thought…when you invited me to come with you…to..Earth…that you were ready… but you just…left me…all alone."

"Dorothy?"

"She was so honest with us. I think she felt sorry…ya know…she told us that you all had a history together…so it was probably why…she said that the best thing we could do is let you both go…that…we should leave you alone…It seemed so obvious!"

"And you LISTENED TO HER?"

"WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? YOU TWO NEVER TALKED TO US, YOU JACKASS!"

By now Hilde was bawling on the floor, Duo staring in confused horror. The A/C seemed to have gotten a second wind, the room had gotten colder. As Hilde calmed down, Duo looked outside to the garden. He had originally organized this trip to Quatre's to have Hilde all to himself. He and Heero had come to an understanding that they wanted Hilde and Relena respectively. One week later and it had all changed. Just one idea caused so much damage.

One idea from one person.

Suddenly Duo smiled.

"You know what Hilde babe; I will forgive you this once."

"What?" Hilde raised her head quickly, not liking Duo's tone of voice. It was too relaxed, too…accommodating.

"I mean, you have a point" He continued, seemingly having not heard Hilde's question, "I need to remember women's minds work a bit differently…action speaking louder than words and all that."

Hilde knew something was wrong. Why was he smiling at her?

"Duo, whatever you're up to, forget it. I'm not in the mood." Hilde coughed a bit to clear her throat.

"Oh, don't worry Hildei-dear. I'm not going to do anything…bad."

Gradually, it dawned on Hilde than Duo was moving around the room. He closed the curtains, turned the TV on, got one of the blankets from the cupboard, and was on his way back to her.

"Duo what are you-"

"You I'm feeling a bit annoyed now. You see you messed up my plans for this week. Messed up Heero's plans for Lennie, but Heero's my boy, figure he'll get everything organized by now."

Hilde flinched when Duo stooped down in front of her. She watched cautiously as he pulled out the key for the cuffs, secured to his silver chain with the cross and the bat wing pendant she gave him for his seventeenth birthday. It shone mutely in the artificial light of the living room. Yet, it seemed, to Hilde, the edges of the wings had developed a certain sharpness; a certain bite.

So focused was she on the pendant, that she didn't notice when Duo had picked her up and walked her to the couch.

"Duo-what are you-where-?"

"Relena wasn't the one who started this." Duo gently deposited her on the couch, "Trowa was right. Would probably have to apologize to her…but later...she's busy with Heero…"

Hilde became outright worried by Duo's smile, even as her body trembled with an unknown thrill.

"I just assumed he had a grudge against pointy eyebrows for stabbing Quatre."

He was circling the couch, slowly approaching Hilde.

"I think I will call Heero later, we all need to talk. And then I need to deal with Dorothy…"

"Duo, why do you have that scissors in your hand?"

It was a rather innocuous instrument. He had found it in the kitchen draw while waiting for Hilde to regain consciousness. At the time, his emotions were running very high and he was getting some…thoughts. Some…inappropriate thoughts.

He stopped for a moment.

Then smiled.

"Nothing, just helping you to relax. Remember, the doctor said you needed to rest after your little bump? Do you know you look very uncomfortable in those overalls?"

Hilde's eyes widened at the smirk on Duo's face.

Somehow she knew this was coming and it was overdue.

(night)

In the end, he didn't need the scissors. Hilde, recognizing where she was and who she was with, exchanged her overalls for one of Duo's shirts. She didn't want to figure out where her clothes were; she didn't have the energy. In the end she found herself on Duo's lap, snuggled under the blanket, watching, of all things, retro Robot Combat League™ episodes. As they watched Crash™ work its skeletal way to robot domination, he felt Hilde's body slowly relax. She was stiff in his arms at first, she kept her body in a rigid crescent formation; trying her best to not let any part of her skin touch his exposed chest and arms. As the episodes continued, he felt as her muscles slowly relaxed, her chest sinking slightly into the croak of his arm. By the time Crash™ dealt the smack-down of Steampunk™, Hilde was fast asleep, her hands wrapped loosely around his waist, her breath puffing gently against the pulse of his neck.

To Duo, it meant he still had a chance.

When he first heard about Hilde and Relena's part in the whole situation, Duo was angry and hurt. The girl that he loved, who he thought loved him, had betrayed him for some sick form of entertainment. But today, the panicked dread in her eyes when he and Heero arrived, looking for them, the despair he saw in her eyes as she turned to run, gave him hope that he may have read the situation wrong. Now Hilde was where he wanted her to be, in his arms and his.

And no thanks to that bitch Dorothy.

His arms instinctively clutched Hilde closer, making her groan in discomfort. Dorothy was up to something; he wasn't sure what it was but she needs to be stopped in her tra-

The intercom released a melodious chime as Heero's face appeared on screen.

_Duo_

"Hey bud. Everything fine?"

_Of course._

"How's Lennie?"

_Naked_

Duo blinked.

"Okay…Good for you…so, what's up?"

_How is Hilde?_

Duo glanced at the girl in his arms. Her fragrance rose to his nostrils; the sweet fragrance of her perfume blending into the scent that is uniquely hers. Her breathing was regular and her body was relaxed. Duo smiled.

"She's…well…so what's on your mind?"

_Dorothy needs to be dealt with. She is the source of all of this._

"No shit. So what is the plan?"

Heero was silent for a bit.

_Sadly we can't kill her. Relena would be displeased. Do have any plans in mind?_

"Don't know, but whatever happens Trowa wants dips."

_Hn?_

"He hasn't forgiven her for almost killing Quatre."

There was a noise of screen, the sliding of cloth over something soft.

_I will call you later with the mission schematics. Take care. Hilde, I am glad you are well._

Heero's face faded to black with static.

Duo disengaged the intercom and lay back on the couch.

"So I take it you have no issues with our plan?"

"You think she did it on purpose?"

"I know she did."

Hilde knew from Duo's voice that he had made up his mind about Dorothy. For some reason, she could only muster pity for her… friend?

"You do know that your mine, right?"

Hilde froze at his voice, at his tone. It was a question and a statement. A request and an order.

She never had a choice really.

Hilde tilted her head to look into his eyes. Duo raised an eyebrow in response. In the almost silent hum of the A/C a decision was made.

"You are such a fuckin' jackass, you know that?"

Duo grinned.

"And yet ya love me!"

OWARI…the end…fini…bye


End file.
